The Omphalus of Earth

The Omphalus of Earth

Greece
Delphi

From 800 BC,when god Apollo declared the Temple as his major sanctuary site til 390 AD that Byzantine emperor Theodosius the Great shut it down sealing thus oficially the domination of Christianity over Dodecaitheism, the famous sanctuary of Delphi with its Pythea priestess was considered as the centre(navel) of the known world becoming with rich donations possibly the richest and most respected religious and political centre simbolizing not only the Hellenic but also international unity and fraternity among foreign and hostile states.
The Delphi sanctuary was strictly organized by a Comittee of dedicated to Apollo priests who apointed a regularly elected by them priestess known as the Pythea comissiond to convey the God's prophesies to the priests and by them to the outside world thus deciding and advising about critical matters and things to happen in the future. In most of the cases, the verdict was as complicated and perplexed as unsolved aenigma, something purely intentional from the priesthood comittee, so it could be either way interpreted or remain unsolved and thus preserving the oracle's dignity and reliability.! Clever indeed!
People kept consulting the Delpic oracle on everything from simple to most critical and important situations of public policy for more than thousand years...
Maybe the most succesful merge and exploitation of religious mysticism and political expendiency....

In the photo the two most famous sites of the sanctuary, the Temple of Apollo and the ancient theater where the festivities of Pythea were held every four years.